General Synod Election Candidates 2026

Details of all candidates in the 2026 General Synod elections

Election Address

James Ian Morris

London

House of Laity


Election Address – His Honour Ian Morris

Email: [email protected]

My application to be a member of the General Synod comes
about because of the call for independent lay members who
will call the Church to account – hence me, an ordinary member
of a congregation to whom Christianity is important, who
believes that he can bring something to the table.

I am a retired Circuit Judge who has served as a Deputy High
Court Judge. Approaching problems with an open mind and
finding the correct solution through both intellect and faith in
God I served particularly as a Designated Family Judge for
Herefordshire & Worcestershire and Liaison Judge for the lay
Magistracy of those counties. I have chaired and taken part in
several NHS enquiries when things have gone wrong. In the early 1980s I set up ‘Alphega’ – a
charity devoted to neighbourly care of the terminally ill which became The Birmingham
Cancer Support Group before later in effect being merged into Macmillan Cancer Support.

Since my retirement I have chaired the Bromsgrove International Young Musicians
Competition and set up the Bromsgrove Young Musicians Platform to help young musicians
on their journey of public performance. I also have significant experience in the prosecution
of child abuse and have contributed a research paper to the International Journal of Child
Abuse. I have published both poems and a book and enjoy writing. Life also includes regular
mentoring undergraduate students at my old Oxford College. My wife and I now live in
Sunbury-on-Thames to be nearer adult children and both of us attend and play respective
parts in the Parish of St Mary’s.

I believe that the current problems that the Church of England faces need very careful
appreciation and management; that the richer churches should be more directly financially
assisting many poorer parishes that are struggling to provide the important spiritual
leadership of their congregations through markedly limited available time of their Parish
Priest, on whose shoulders the overcentralised hierarchy has placed year upon year a burden
that would not be tolerated in the outside world.

27VIII26

abuse,retirement


Theological Tradition Terms
Theological Tradition Sentences

Sexuality, Marriage & LLF/PLF Terms
Sexuality, Marriage & LLF/PLF Sentences

Safeguarding Terms

abuse

Safeguarding Sentences
I also have significant experience in the prosecution of child abuse and have contributed a research paper to the International Journal of Child Abuse.

Evangelism, Mission & Church Growth Terms
Evangelism, Mission & Church Growth Sentences

Doctrine & Formularies Terms
Doctrine & Formularies Sentences

Society, Justice & Inclusion Terms
Society, Justice & Inclusion Sentences

Clergy Concerns Terms

retirement

Clergy Concerns Sentences
Since my retirement I have chaired the Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Competition and set up the Bromsgrove Young Musicians Platform to help young musicians on their journey of public performance.

Church Structure & Policy Terms
Church Structures & Policy Sentences

Other Churches & Other Faiths Terms
Other Churches & Other Faiths Sentences

Youth & Next Generation Terms
Youth & Next Generation Sentences